Electronic message phishing is a problem. “Phishing” includes unscrupulous individuals or entities attempting to acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. For example, electronic messages, such as email or instant messages, purporting to be from known entities are used to lure an unsuspecting recipient into providing sensitive information to what the recipient thinks is a website of a trustworthy organization, but instead is fake website controlled by a corrupt individual that is ready to exploit the sensitive information fraudulently. Phishing has cost individuals and organizations billions of dollars in fraudulent charges and lost business.
Websites, such as “ismycreditstolen.com,” controlled by concerned individuals seek to educate the public on this problem. Government agencies are engaged in identifying phishing websites to eradicate using the criminal legal system. Software, such as spam filters and security applications, attempt to identify and/or block electronic messages having phishing-related content. Websites use verification images and icons to reduce phishing.
Although each of these tools is important and effective in their own way in reducing phishing, more tools are needed. For example, recipients using any or all of these do not have a method by which the recipients can verify that a received electronic message is legitimate. Accordingly, systems and methods are desirable that are usable to verify electronic messages received by recipients.